A Change Of Heart
by bryshenners
Summary: Narcissa Black has been suffering for years, trying to forget her pain caused by the one and only Lucius Malfoy. As time goes on can she forgive and forget and move on with her life?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Thanks to everyone who gives this a read. **

**Reviews are welcome. **

**I thought I'd try something different with Lucius and Narcissa from what I usually see or read, so I hope people like it. **

**Disclaimer: I'm not claiming to own anything Harry Potter related, The characters, the world and the whole concept belongs to J K Rowling, I'm just a huge fan using my own imagination. Not to publish or plagiarize someone else's work. Some characters have been written in as family members of characters mentioned in Miss Rowling's series.**

**Enjoy :)**

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**December 1977**

It was closing time for all the shops in Diagon Alley, it was Christmas eve and Narcissa sighed happily as she walked from the back rooms of Madam Malkin's to the shop floor. She had been working part time there for a year now, mostly to get out of the house. Her father had been pestering her to marry but she wasn't ready nor interested in any of the men who had been competing for her affections. There had only been one man for her and he was long gone.

She grabbed her bag and cloak from underneath the till and flicked her wand to turn out the lights. Narcissa walked over to the door and was about to turn the open sign around to the other side that read closed when a man burst through the door, throwing Narcissa to the ground in the process. She rose to her feet, rubbing the arm she had awkwardly landed on, her blue eyes meeting those stone cold ones that she could never forget.

Stood before her, was Lucius Malfoy. He was taller than she remembered, his long blonde hair tied back. He had swapped teenage robes for more tailored adult ones, and was carrying a stick with a snake's head. She knew the stick contained magical properties, her sister saw Lucius on a regular basis and had told her about it long ago. Personally, Narcissa tried to avoid going to social aristocratic parties that she guessed Lucius Malfoy would attend.

Lucius stood in the middle of the shop, a look of shock on his face. He certainly hadn't been expecting Narcissa Black to be working in a clothes shop, her family were wealthy. He wondered why she was here, but he didn't ask her. Her facial expression had changed from unexpected surprise of being thrown to the floor when he had barged through the door to pure hatred. Clearly the events of years ago still haunted her.

"Malfoy," she hissed.

"Are you hurt?" he asked, a tone of concern about his voice.

Narcissa glared at him, as if he really cared about hurting her.

"It doesn't matter, now what do you want?" Narcissa snapped.

Lucius met her glare, he didn't understand why she hated him so much.

"I need to purchase some dress robes," stated Lucius.

Narcissa scoffed in disbelief, it was closing time and he expected her to remain open so he could do his shopping. Everyone else may treat Malfoy like a god, but she was different. She would treat Malfoy like every other customer.

"Sorry Mr Malfoy, we're closed." Narcissa said coldly.

Lucius face turned to an expression of anger, he had never been used to someone trying to defy him. Everyone gave the Malfoy family respect, their loyalties bought so easily. Maybe the expression, there's a first for everything, was true.

"Miss Black, did you hear me?" Lucius asked.

Narcissa, who hand't stopped glaring at him, simply nodded and cleared her throat.

"And Mr Malfoy, did you hear me? I said we're closed," Narcissa affirmed.

Lucius took a step closer to her, grabbing her by the upper arm. She pulled her wand out and jabbed it into his stomach hard. He looked down into her furious blue eyes. Realising that she was ready to curse him, he released her and took a few steps away from her. Narcissa outstretched her arm and held her wand high, aiming at the place of his heart, if he had one.

"I said we're closed Mr Malfoy," Narcissa hissed.

Lucius nodded curtly before heading back to the door and pulling it open. His eyes briefly met hers as he whispered, "Merry Christmas, Narcissa" and slammed the door shut behind him.

Narcissa stood to the spot numbed by her encounter with Lucius Malfoy. Just by seeing him brought back all her pain from years before, pain that she had tried to forget. But as she walked out of the shop and locked the front door with her wand, she realised that she could never forget the events of the past.


	2. Chapter 2

"Merry Christmas Cissy!" said Druella cheerfully.

Narcissa kissed her mother's cheek as Druella wrapped her arms around her youngest daughter and pulled her in for a hug. Christmas was usually like this in the Black house. Her mother was never usually this cheery unless she had had a glass of wine or two. Even though Narcissa was an adult now, the family Christmas routine was the same. Her mother would be up at seven in the morning to go over the menu for Christmas dinner, then she'd have a glass of wine to silently think of Andromeda, her mother never admitted it but one year Narcissa had caught her mother looking through Andromeda's baby albums. Her father would come downstairs at nine and then Narcissa, Bella and Rodolphus came down half an hour later. It had been the same every year, just without Andromeda now.

She let go of her mother and happily hugged her father. Druella poured Narcissa a glass of wine and handed it to her.

"Where's Bella and Rod?" asked Narcissa, hoping that the answer wasn't going to be 'marital relations' as it had been the year before.

"On their way down, love." replied Cygnus, smoking his pipe.

Narcissa nodded as she took a gulp from her glass, hopefully they were coming down and that her father(knowing her embarrassment from the year before from asking that question) was correct that they were actually on their way downstairs.

"Druella dear, have you told the elves to set places for the Malfoys?" asked Cygnus.

Narcissa froze, surely the Malfoys weren't celebrating Christmas with them?

"Yes dear," replied Druella.

Narcissa choked on her wine, Cygnus looked at her curiously.

"Cissy, are you okay?" asked Druella.

Narcissa, over the last of her coughing, looked over at her mother with an expression of reluctance to spend Christmas with Lucius Malfoy.

"Nobody told me that I would be spending Christmas with Lucius Malfoy!" she complained.

Cygnus tutted, "Narcissa you should know by now that Abraxas is an old family friend,".

Narcissa looked at her father, "You know what he did!" she said darkly.

Cygnus shared a look with his wife, Narcissa knew that look. They expected her to have gotten over it. It had been nearly six years ago now since the incident.

"Narcissa-

"I know what you're going to say!" exclaimed Narcissa unhappily.

"Darling, we know it hurts you to think about it, but you need to move on," Druella implored.

Narcissa's eyes started to water, her parents never understood. She had been given life lessons on how to pretend everything was fine and dandy in public but they had never told her how to conceal her feelings in private company. In private she could easily break down in tears and have her mother or father comfort her but how could they expect her to sit through an entire evening with Lucius Malfoy?

"I can't!" she cried.

"More like you won't allow yourself too!" Cygnus yelled.

"Cygnus! Don't shout at the girl," Druella said sternly.

"Druella she's twenty-two, she's not seventeen any more!" snapped Cygnus.

Narcissa dropped her wine glass to the floor, the glass shattering. Wine spilt done her dress. Her parents stopped snapping at each other and looked to her, eyes widened in surprise that she had been so clumsy.

"Listen to me Narcissa, you are going to calm yourself down, you are going to change and sit through the evening with Lucius. I don't care whether you don't like it, you are going to move on and you are going to settle down with a nice man. Do I make myself clear?" growled Cygnus.

Narcissa looked from the shattered wine glass to her father, wiping her eyes as she did so. She took a deep breath to calm herself and the heavily exhaled. Her blue eyes meeting her father's brown ones.

"Crystal," she replied confidently.

"Good, now go and change," said Cygnus coldly.

Narcissa left the room and walked upstairs to her room, she passed Rodolphus and Bella on the way up, her eyes met her sister's black ones briefly. Bella looked at her sister and didn't need to ask what was wrong. Bella knew exactly what had gone on.


	3. Chapter 3

"Abraxas, Evelyn. How lovely to see you," gushed Druella as she kissed Mrs Malfoy's cheek to greet her.

"Thank you for the invitation, Druella. You remember my son, Lucius." replied Evelyn as she gestured to her son.

Lucius bowed his head and kissed Druella's hand.

"You look lovely, Mrs Black." Lucius complimented.

"Oh you are charming," Druella gushed.

Druella led the three Malfoys into the living room, clicking her fingers and three houseelves came to take their cloaks from them. The three Malfoys sat down on the leather sofa whilst Cygnus poured Abraxas and Lucius a brandy whilst Druella poured Evelyn a glass of wine. Narcissa entered the room, her heart pounding in her chest. This was only the beginning. She still had the entire evening to get through.

"Ah Narcissa," Cygnus greeted cheerfully.

Narcissa walked over to her father to hug him and then turned to the Malfoys, her eyes meeting Lucius's. Her heart pounding faster.

"You remember my daughter Narcissa, Abraxas?" asked Cygnus.

Abraxas rose from the sofa and kissed her hand, Narcissa smiled at Abraxas warmly.

"You've grown more beautiful over the years, Narcissa." Abraxas complimented.

"Thank you, Mr Malfoy." thanked Narcissa.

"My daughter Bella and her husband are here somewhere, you know young married couples." chuckled Cygnus.

"Father," Narcissa mumbled in embarrassment.

"Forgive Narcissa, she takes talk of private matters with a bit of embarrassment," explained Cygnus.

"It's fine," said Evelyn, taking a sip of her wine.

"Wine Narcissa?" asked Druella.

"Please," Narcissa said a little too quickly.

Lucius eyed her as she drank the wine which her mother handed to her. He could tell she was uncomfortable with him being there as much as he was. Even though he insisted that he stay at Malfoy Manor, his parents insisted that it would be rude to turn down an invitation from the Black's for Christmas dinner. They were old friends of the family after all. So Lucius had no choice but to tag along to what would be an uncomfortable dinner with the Black girl who hated his guts.

Narcissa drained her glass and poured herself another one, making sure not to drink too much as she would do something that she would regret in the morning. Lucius didn't touch his brandy, he kept trying to catch Narcissa's eye, wanting her to at least acknowledge his presence in her home. He wished that she didn't hate him so much, she wouldn't even explain why.

Bellatrix and Rodolphus joined them a little while later, greeting the guests and helping themselves to drinks. Abraxas and Cygnus mostly talked about politics and things going on at the Ministry whilst Evelyn and Druella talked about the latest gossip. She excused herself and gave the reason for being that she had a headache and needed some air. So opened the door to the terrace and slipped through quietly.

Lucius saw his chance and without anyone noticing, he followed her. He found her sat on the wooden bench with a thin shawl wrapped around her. He sat at the other end of the bench and cleared his throat, she turned to face him with an murderous glare on her face.

"What?" she demanded.

"I came to apologise, my presence here is making you uncomfortable," said Lucius.

Narcissa looked him up and down before shrugging off his apology, his apologies meant nothing to her.

"He loved Christmas, did you know?" asked Narcissa in a harsh tone.

Lucius's eyes filled with regret as he looked into her blue ones.

"I know," he sighed.

Narcissa stood up and went to go back inside the house but he grabbed her elbow, she looked down at him and pushed him away.

"Narcissa please, we have to talk about this," Lucius implored.

Narcissa couldn't stop the tiny tear that leaked from her eye. She wiped it away with the sleeve of her dress and sniffed.

"What makes you think I'll talk to you?" she sneered.

Lucius watched as she turned her back on him and returned to the warmth of the manor house. He sighed to himself as he rose from the bench and followed her. He was determined to get her to talk about it to him. One day she would reveal why she hated him so much, he vowed to himself.


	4. Chapter 4

**February 1978**

"Narcissa? Narcissa?" an irritated voice yelled.

Narcissa snapped out of her daydream and blinked. She hadn't even realised that she wasn't listening to her best friend. Jemima Nott had been her best friend since the age of four. The pair almost seemed like they could be twins, Jemima also had long blonde hair but had green eyes rather than blue. Narcissa looked her best friend in the eye and threw her an apologetic look.

"Sorry Jem, my mind is on other places today," Narcissa sighed.

Jemima squeezed her hand in sympathy.

"Cissy, go to him. It will allow you to have closure," said Jemima quietly.

Narcissa felt a tear escape her, she didn't even know if she wanted to have closure. It would be like giving him up completely, like she was going to forget him.

"What if I don't want closure?" asked Narcissa with a choke in her voice.

Jemima gave her a small, sympathetic smile.

"Cissy, he wouldn't want you to be like this. It's been six years. Time to move on and be happy," said Jemima softly.

Narcissa exhaled heavily. Everyone talked about her moving on with her life but she didn't know whether it was possible. The thought of moving on and leaving him behind pained her just as much as what had happened all those years ago.

"I can't," Narcissa whispered.

Jemima sighed as she finished the last of her coffee. She looked at Narcissa and shook her head.

"You haven't been the same since it happened, Narcissa you need to move on. He wouldn't want you to be like this," stated Jemima.

Narcissa sighed, everyone did have a valid point. She had been suffering for years, maybe going to him would make her feel a little bit better. She drained the last of her coffee and gave her friend a hug goodbye once she had rose from the table. Jemima gave her a small parting smile as Narcissa left the teashop. Narcissa walked up the high street and then apparated to the place she would find him.

She stood before a peaceful graveyard, a few people stood close by as they placed flowers on the departed's graves. She didn't have any flowers. The early spring wind blew through her blonde hair lightly as she looked on ahead and found herself shaking as she walked to open the little wooden rickety gate. But once she had placed her hand on the gate, she found herself frozen to the spot. She wasn't ready yet.

Narcissa sighed at herself in disappointment. She could've made some progress to please everyone who had begged her to move on for the past six years. She heard a figure stop behind her, she slowly turned and instantly glared at the man stood before her. How the hell did he have the nerve to come here?

Lucius stood on the spot and his eyes met hers in shock. He had never seen her here before, not once in six years. And on the sixth anniversary she had decided to come.

"I didn't realise that you'd be here," Lucius said numbly.

"I'm not ready," Narcissa mumbled.

Narcissa shook her head and barged past him, Lucius reached a hand out and grabbed her wrist lightly. She looked at him curiously.

"We can go together," Lucius suggested.

Narcissa pushed him away from her.

"Why would I do that?" asked Narcissa harshly.

"To move on," replied Lucius.

Narcissa's eyes narrowed as she stared at him.

"I'm not ready," she repeated.

Lucius sighed as he heard a pop and she disapparated. He walked over to the rickety gate, pulled it open and entered the graveyard.


	5. Chapter 5

**April 1978**

"Do you ever think about the future?" Ivy MacNair mused.

Narcissa had a few of her old school friends round for the evening, she felt it was long overdue for her friends to have a catch up. Bella and Rod had returned to their manor and her parents were dining at the Malfoys for the evening. Jemima opened another bottle of wine and passed it around so everyone could top up their glasses.

"Sometimes," replied Jemima.

"I think about travelling," sighed Olivia Parkinson.

"Would Paul allow that?" asked Jemima.

"He's always busy and going away, I beg him to take me with him but he says no," complained Olivia.

"You got married too quickly," Narcissa chuckled.

Olivia sighed, she had been married for nearly two years and all the girls thought she had settled down too quickly having only dated Paul Parkinson a short while.

"What about you Jem?" asked Ivy.

Jemima shook her head, "I'm happy with how things are," she replied brightly.

Olivia rolled her eyes and took a mouthful of wine.

"Are you honestly saying that you aren't expecting Neil Greengrass isn't going to propose any time soon?" asked Olivia.

"Neil and I aren't in a rush," shrugged Jemima.

"I'm happy being single for now, but one day I'd like to settle down," said Ivy thoughtfully.

"What about you Cissy?" asked Olivia who had finished her glass of wine.

The smiles faded from the other girl's faces as they turned to look at Narcissa, she simply smiled and took a sip of wine.

"One day maybe I'll be married, but for now I'm fine," she lied, hoping she had convinced her friends.

Olivia and Ivy smiled brightly and started up a new conversation, Jemima caught Narcissa's eyes and Narcissa took a large gulp from her glass. She knew that Jemima could see through her lies, out of all her friends, she was closest with Jemima. She and Jemima were practically sisters who told each other everything, she could always tell when Jemima was upset and Jemima could always tell when she was lying.

Narcissa called the elves to prepare rooms for her friends, they were all too intoxicated to travel by floo or apparate at this time of night. Olivia and Ivy bade the other two goodnight and Jemima turned to Narcissa, her eyebrows raised.

"What?" asked Narcissa with a hiccough.

"You didn't go did you?" asked Jemima.

Narcissa sighed as she poured the last of wine from the bottle into her glass.

"I wasn't ready," she admitted.

Jemima sighed with disappointment.

"Cissy, I know how you feel and I sympathise, I really do. But you need to move on in order to be happy," Jemima implored.

Narcissa downed the rest of her wine and rose from where she had been sitting, Jemima looked up at her with a quizzical look.

"Where are you going?" asked Jemima as she watched Narcissa walk out of the room.

"To move on," Narcissa called back.

Then with a slam of the front door, she was gone.


	6. Chapter 6

Narcissa opened the metal gate and stared up at Malfoy manor through heavy eyelids, she was starting to grow drowsy, damn herself for drinking a lot of alcohol. Everyone had been pressuring her for years to move on and be happy, tonight she was going to do something about it. She knew the only reason for doing so was because the alcohol fuelled her need to stop everyone from nagging her, if she was stone cold sober she wouldn't be here right now.

She closed the gate behind her and began to make her way up the gravel driveway, she only hoped her parents had returned home. She was determined to let Malfoy know how much damage he had done and how miserable she had been since that traumatic day. She wanted him to know how much she had suffered over the past six years.

She stumbled and fell to the ground, cutting her knee in the process. She didn't care about her knee right now, her determination to reach the front door took over. She stood to her feet and continued to walk, all over the place, until she finally reached the oaken front door to the manor. She banged on it as hard as she could and was happy to see that Lucius had answered it, looking slightly surprised and curious as to why she was there.

"Narcissa-

She held a hand up over his face and he instantly went quiet.

"You," she hissed.

He could smell the alcohol on her breath and took a step back to examine her. He observed her cut knee and drunken state, maybe now was the time she was actually going to have a conversation with him, although she would have preferred if she was sober.

"You r-ruined m'life," Narcissa slurred.

She burped and Lucius's expression changed to show her that he was uncomfortable. He pulled her inside and shut the door behind her, leading her into his father's study and locking the door behind him, his parents had retired for the evening and didn't want Narcissa's outbursts to disturb them.

"Explain," Lucius said sharply.

"Y-you t-ook him a-way," Narcissa accused.

Lucius's heart fell in his chest, he had no idea that she blamed him entirely for the whole incident. She stared at him through watery eyes and sniffed.

"Narcissa, let me explain." Lucius implored.

"NO!" yelled Narcissa.

Lucius stepped towards her and clasped a hand over her mouth to prevent her from shouting even more. She glared at him until he removed his hand from her mouth.

"Say what you have to say but do so quietly," Lucius whispered.

Narcissa placed her hands on his chest and pushed him away harshly.

"You took away my Charlie," Narcissa cried.

Lucius's eyes softened at her prolonged grief, she blamed him but she didn't know the whole story. The way she saw it, it was his fault that Charlie had died. He stepped toward her and looked down into her watery blue eyes.

"Narcissa, you don't know the whole story," Lucius stated.

"It's your fault," she hissed, jabbing a finger into his chest to emphasise her point.

Lucius seized her by the upper arm, and shook her slightly. He didn't want to hurt her, but she was refusing to listen to him.

"You are drunk and hysterical, you need to listen to what happened," said Lucius.

"All I know is, he died and you're to blame!" she wailed.

"Narcissa-

"I should be married by now, with children. Living in a nice house, being happy. But you had to take all that away didn't you?" she demanded.

Lucius exhaled heavily.

"I'm only partly to blame," he stated.

"No you aren't," Narcissa sobbed.

She broke down into tears. Tears that she had been holding back for six years. Lucius's felt sympathy as he wrapped his arms around her to hold her. Narcissa didn't even try and push him away, she let him hold her as she sobbed into his chest, her mascara wiping onto his shirt. He didn't care. For the first time in six years, she had opened up about his best friend's death and how it affected her and why she hated him. She blamed him for her misery. He understood why, he understood completely. Because although he wasn't entirely to blame, he blamed himself for her suffering.

She didn't pull away from him when she looked up into his grey eyes, the last of her tears gone. He gave her a small smile as he continued to gaze at her, even in her drunken, hysterical state, she was still beautiful. He hoped that after tonight, she would finally be able to move on and be happy, Charlie wouldn't have wanted her to carry on like this. He kissed her gently on the forehead and she looked at him confused. Why was he being nice to her after the way she had behaved?

"You can stay here tonight, I won't allow you to apparate home in this state. I'll write to your parents so they know where you are and tomorrow we will talk," Lucius promised.

Narcissa, continuing to stare at him in confusion, simply nodded her head and sniffed. She watched as Lucius called an elf to prepare one of the guest rooms for her and then helped her up the staircase to her room. Before she entered her room she turned to him.

"Thank you," she whispered, the smell of alcohol still about her.

Lucius smiled, "Goodnight Narcissa," he whispered and watched as she entered the room and closed the door behind her.

He stood in the hallway a few moments longer, he hoped that tonight they had made some progress on getting past this. Although she had opened up a little to him, he knew that he still had a long way to go and he was determined that she knew the whole truth.

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**A/N: So what do you all think so far?**


	7. Chapter 7

Narcissa awoke with a terrible pain in her head and feeling so sick that the thought of breakfast made her want to rush to the bathroom. She slowly sat up and winced as a throbbing sensation began to happen in her head, why did she drink so much? She looked over to the door as she heard it squeak open and groaned in embarrassment when she saw Lucius walk in with a tray of food for her. Lucius chuckled as he placed the tray down on the table beside the bed. He sat on the edge of the bed and smiled down at Narcissa.

"Feeling delicate are we?" teased Lucius.

"Don't," groaned Narcissa, massaging her head.

"I have a hangover potion for you," said Lucius, gesturing towards the tray.

Narcissa reached over for the goblet and drained the potion in one go, she gagged afterwards at the after taste. Hangover potions did not taste nice but they kicked in rather quickly. She placed the tray on her lap and started to tuck into her fry-up. Lucius watched her, making sure that she was feeling okay. He had been wondering how she was feeling all night, whether she would feel better for her drunken outbursts or feel worse for revealing her true feelings. She finished eating and wiped her face with a napkin.

"Thank you," she mumbled.

"I couldn't see you go without food," Lucius chuckled.

"Not just for the breakfast, for putting up with me in that state," said Narcissa, her eyes not meeting his.

"It's fine Narcissa, in fact I'm quite pleased," said Lucius.

Narcissa met his gaze with curiosity.

"Why are you pleased?" she questioned.

"Because you've never told me how you felt about Charlie's death until last night," Lucius answered.

Narcissa sighed and placed the empty tray back onto the table.

"It's going to take time for me to heal completely," She explained.

Lucius nodded in understanding,

"You still haven't been told the full story," Lucius stated.

"I'm not ready to hear it right now," said Narcissa firmly.

"When you are, you only need ask." Lucius said quietly.

Narcissa nodded gratefully. After last night she didn't feel so hostile towards him any more, letting him know how she felt seemed to make her feel better. She still missed Charlie, she always would. But it seemed like she was able to be happy now. To start moving on with her life, and she came to realise that everyone who wanted her to move on were right. Charlie would've wanted her to be happy.

"Do you see his parents?" asked Narcissa curiously.

Lucius nodded, "From time to time when I visit his grave, his parents were a little hostile toward me at first. Eighteen is such a young age to die. You had just turned seventeen when it happened, didn't you?" asked Lucius.

"Yeah in January," Narcissa replied.

"Do you have anywhere to be today?" asked Lucius.

"I have to go to work," said Narcissa.

"What time?" asked Lucius.

"One," replied Narcissa.

Lucius checked his watch, "Well it's nearly eleven now, I've got you a new dress hanging on the bathroom door when you want to take a shower," he said softly.

Narcissa gave him a small smile in gratitude, she had been rather horrible to him for years, why was he being nice to her? she didn't know. She kicked back the covers and rose from the bed. She turned to Lucius before entering the bathroom.

"Thank you," she repeated.

Lucius stood from the bed and took her hand in his and squeezed it lightly.

"I hope that you feel the need to talk to me in future," he whispered.

He released her hand from his and she nodded.

"I'll bear that in mind that you like to listen to my ramblings," she said.

"They are far from ramblings I can assure you of that," Lucius chuckled.

She smiled and went into the en-suite bathroom and locked the door. Lucius left the room, feeling satisfied that they had made some progress.


	8. Chapter 8

**June 1978**

"Narcissa, hurry up!" called Druella from the bottom of the stairs.

Narcissa descended the stairs wearing a turquoise dress that showed off her body shape but flowed out a little from the hips. Her blonde hair cascading down her back in loose curls with some strands tied back. It was a special occasion in the Malfoy household, it was Lucius's twenty-forth birthday and his parents had decided to throw a ball for him, although Narcissa suspected that Lucius would've preferred a smaller get together rather than all of pureblood aristocracy to be invited to celebrate his birthday.

"Cissy love, you look wonderful," Druella gushed as she hugged her daughter.

"Thanks mother," Narcissa smiled.

"The elves have taken our stuff to the Malfoy's, will you be travelling with us?" asked Cygnus.

Before Narcissa could reply, there was a knock on the door. Cygnus frowned as he opened it and stood in the doorway was Julian Goyle, her date for the evening.

"Hello Mr and Mrs Black, I'm here to escort Narcissa to the ball," Julian greeted.

Druella caught Narcissa's eye with a look of surprise, they certainly hadn't been expecting their daughter to be attending the event with a date.

"You're her date?" asked Cygnus sternly.

"Yes Sir," replied Julian confidently.

Cygnus smiled and gestured for Narcissa to go with Julian. Narcissa smiled as Julian took her hand a placed a light kiss on it.

"I'll see you there father," said Narcissa.

"Yes you shall," replied Cygnus.

Julian held out his arm and Narcissa instantly linked hers through his as he walked her over to his waiting car. He held the door open for her and she slid into the back seat gracefully and he carefully shut the door behind her before moving around to the other side. They only had a short journey to Wiltshire as the Black's lived on the border of Dorset and Wiltshire. On their journey to Wiltshire Julian and Narcissa chatted away about what was going on with their lives, Julian mostly talked about his career at the Ministry.

Their car pulled up in front of the manor and Julian got out of the car and opened the door for her, he held out his hand and she gently took it and exited from the car. They walked into the manor and made their way over to greet the Malfoys.

"Narcissa, you look beautiful." Evelyn complimented as she kissed Narcissa's cheek.

"As do you, Mrs Malfoy." replied Narcissa with a smile.

Lucius looked over when he heard her voice and just as he met her twinkling blue eyes, he lost his breath. She had never looked more beautiful. She looked a little happier than she did when they last saw each other, as if she was allowing herself to move on. Here she was, with Julian Goyle. A slight hint of annoyance came about him, why did her being here with Goyle bother him?

"Ah Lucius, happy birthday." said Julian warmly as he shook Lucius's hand.

"Thank you, Julian." said Lucius curtly.

"Thank you for the invitation," said Narcissa.

"My pleasure Miss Black," Lucius replied, placing a kiss on her hand.

"Narcissa, I'll go and get us something to drink." said Julian.

Narcissa nodded her head in acknowledgement as Julian departed through the crowd in the Malfoy's ballroom. Narcissa looked up at Lucius apologetically.

"I'm sorry, I didn't get you a gift." she admitted.

"I don't expect birthday presents," Lucius replied.

"Well it's kind of hard to get a man who is the richest among the crowd tonight, a gift when he has all the money in the world to buy it himself." Narcissa teased.

"Money can buy a lot of things," he agreed.

"Well if there is anything that you'd like, let me know." smiled Narcissa and with that she departed into the crowd to find Julian.

As the evening progressed, Lucius found himself chatting with the different men that had come to the ball but found their conversation lacking and kept glancing at Narcissa. She had danced several times with Julian, her father and his own father. She danced more elegantly than anyone else in the ballroom, she was captivating. He knew that her birthday gift to him could be one dance. At least he had an excuse now.

She stood at the edge of the dance floor, having just finished another dance with Julian. He had yet again left her alone to get them both drinks. Lucius strode over to her and she smiled to greet him.

"Enjoying the party?" asked Lucius.

"I'm having an amazing time," she breathed happily.

Lucius smiled and leaned in to her ear.

"I've thought of a gift you could give me," Lucius whispered.

Narcissa looked up at him.

"What's that?" asked Narcissa.

"Dance with me," Lucius breathed, holding out his hand.

She grinned and took it, she loved dancing. Her parents had paid for her, Bella and Andromeda to have ballroom dancing lessons as young children. It had grown to be a love of hers and whenever asked to dance, even by Lucius Malfoy, she couldn't refuse the offer. They took their place in the centre of the dance floor and the music played a slow waltz. They got into position and Lucius began to slowly lead her around the other dancing couples. As they whirled around the dance floor, Narcissa's face lit up in joy. Lucius couldn't help but smile down at the beautiful blonde, he couldn't recall seeing her this happy as she was right now, as she had been the whole evening.

"I wonder if you could do something for me?" Narcissa asked.

They whirled around a corner and Lucius spun her around delicately before pulling her closer to him.

"What's that?" asked Lucius.

"It would've been Charlie's birthday in September and I'd like to visit his grave but I don't think I can face it alone," Narcissa mumbled.

Lucius smiled as the music stopped and they stepped apart from each other to applaud the other couples who had been dancing. Lucius led her to the open terrace to get some fresh air.

"Would you come with me?" Narcissa asked.

Lucius looked down into her eyes, trying to see whether she actually meant it, that she wanted him to go with her. She seemed to be genuinely wanting him to go with her.

"Of course," Lucius replied with a smile.


End file.
